Pierce, a Hattiesburg native, became involved at an early age with managing thousands of acres of his family's timberland holdings, which led him to further his education in forest resource management and to start his own timberland management company, Pierce Forestry Services. He helps private landowners achieve their timberland goals with timber harvesting, reforestation and herbicide application.

Pierce is single with two nephews and two nieces.

What advice would you give people who want to get into the same line of work as you? My advice to someone wanting to enter the real estate business is to specialize on a particular type of real estate. If you are most interested in selling homes, specialize in homes. If you are knowledgeable of land and timber or agricultural properties, focus on those property types. Also, be prepared to go without any income in the beginning. It takes time to get started.

Why did you choose to live and work in the Hattiesburg area? I am from Hattiesburg. I was raised on my family’s farm just out of town, which I still manage. My family and some of my closest friends are still in the area, and although I love to travel, I can’t imagine living anywhere else. I’m excited about the new developments Hattiesburg has in store for the future with businesses downtown and the development of midtown.

What do you do in your free time? I enjoy anything outdoors whether it’s hunting or fishing or raising cattle, but my real passion is Southern Miss baseball. I usually attend every home game and some of the games away. The Roost is one of my favorite places on Earth!

If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why? It would be a tie between John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, because of how they came from nothing and both created entire industries and helped shape our great country. I enjoy reading and try to learn as much as I can about them.

If you could go back 10 years and give a younger you tips or advice on life, work or anything in general, what would it be? I would have told myself to focus more on school instead of college extracurricular activities. At the time, it was difficult to see very far into the future. College was fun, but it’s a lot more fun when you finally get that behind you.